FRM® Exam Part I study planner: a week-by-week plan to your exam window

How is the result calculated?

The planner counts the full weeks from your start to the first day of the exam window. Days left over after the last full week are for light review and rest.

The weeks are split into four phases, in this order: learning, catch-up, review and mock exams.

$M$ is the number of mock-exam weeks, $R$ the review weeks and $L$ the learning weeks. $B$ is the number of catch-up weeks: none below 12 weeks, one from 12 weeks and two from 26 weeks. Plans run from 4 to 104 weeks.

The learning weeks’ hours are shared among the four topic areas. Each starts from a base share $s_i$, the middle of the hours 300Hours suggests for it, and is multiplied by your confidence factor $f = 1.5$ for “new to me”, $1$ for “some background” or $0.5$ for “confident”: (300Hours, Part I study guide (secondary source))

$H$ is your study hours a week. The topic areas follow one another in the order 300Hours suggests – Quantitative Analysis first, as the valuation and risk models build on it – each filling your weekly hours before the next one starts. Finally, the plan’s hours, $W \times H$, are compared with the benchmark $T$ for your background; to reach it in the same weeks you would need $T / W$ hours a week.

The phase shares and the confidence factors are our own planning rules, the same as in our Level I study planner; the base shares and the benchmarks are a careers website’s figures. None of them is a recommendation of GARP. GARP publishes the topic areas and their weights for each exam year (GARP, FRM Exam information); check them for your year before you rely on the plan.

Worked example

You start on Monday 2 November 2026, plan for the window of 8–13 May 2027 (check the official website) and study 10 hours a week. To the first day of the window there are 187 days: 26 full weeks and 5 days. The phases are 4 weeks of mock exams, 7 of review, 2 catch-up weeks and 13 weeks of learning.

The learning weeks hold 13 × 10 = 130 hours. With the same confidence in every topic area, the base shares 55 : 37.5 : 60 : 65 (together 217.5) give:

Quantitative Analysis takes 32.9 hours in weeks 1–4, Foundations of Risk Management 22.4 hours in weeks 4–6, Financial Markets and Products 35.9 hours in weeks 6–10 and Valuation and Risk Models 38.9 hours in weeks 10–13. In total the plan has 26 × 10 = 260 hours, 10 more than the 250-hour benchmark.

Without a finance background, 300Hours suggests 260 to 300 hours. Against the middle, 280, the same weeks fall 20 hours short; reaching it would take 10.8 hours a week. If you mark Quantitative Analysis as new to you and Foundations of Risk Management as confident instead, Quantitative Analysis grows to 47.4 hours and Foundations of Risk Management shrinks to 10.8.

How many weeks does your background need?

The table turns 300Hours’ figures into weeks at a steady pace, rounded up. (300Hours, Part I study guide (secondary source)) Read across to your weekly hours, then compare the weeks with the time to your window.

Add the weeks for review and mock exams to that: in the planner they take about two fifths of the time. Not sure your week really has the hours? Check it first with the study-time budget calculator, which counts what your job, commute, sleep and family leave free.

How do you use the plan week by week?

Start with Quantitative Analysis and practise with questions from the first week rather than reading first and testing later. If an area takes longer than planned, move on anyway: the catch-up weeks are there for what is left. In the review weeks, mix questions from all four areas and give extra time to those you marked as new. In the mock-exam weeks, sit one full mock under timed conditions each week – in the format of the exam, 100 questions in one session of 4 hours – and spend the following days on every question you got wrong. Our value at risk guide and expected loss guide work through two of the calculations step by step.

Which planning mistakes are common?

• Leaving Quantitative Analysis until later. The valuation and risk models use its statistics; a weak start there slows everything after it.
• Planning more hours than the week holds. A plan that needs every free evening breaks in the first busy week; enter the hours you can keep up.
• Choosing the background you would like to have. If finance is new to you, plan with the higher figure; finishing early costs nothing.
• Leaving mock exams to the last few days. A four-hour mock is useful only with time to go through the mistakes afterwards.
• Treating 250 hours as a promise. It is a planning figure. Watch your pace in the first weeks and adjust the plan.

Fees, registration periods and scheduling deadlines for each window are on the Part I dates and fees page.

Study aid only – not legal, financial or careers advice. The tool runs in your browser and stores nothing.

High Performer Certs is an independent study platform. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by CFA Institute or the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). We are not a CFA Institute Prep Provider and not a GARP Exam Preparation Provider. CFA Institute does not endorse, promote, review or warrant the accuracy or quality of our products and services. GARP does not endorse, promote, review or warrant the accuracy of our products or services. All questions and explanations are our own original material and contain no CFA Institute or GARP exam, curriculum or practice questions. CFA®, Chartered Financial Analyst®, CIPM® and GIPS® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute. FRM® and GARP® are trademarks owned by the Global Association of Risk Professionals.